Is it really worth it to pay for directory inclusions ?Do people really use directory or do we submit to directory simply to get indexed by the major search engines ?

Those are excellent questions, some of which can be answered quite simply - some not so easily... It is also difficult to answer such general question with a general answer - some directories (Joeant and Goguides) allow you to get listed free of charge immediately, provided that you register as Editor and submit the site yourself, while others, like Gimpsy, getting in for free (provided that you are accepted) entails a lengthy wait. But let us try...

Let's start with the simple one. Do people really use directories? The answer is a very clear YES. At Gimpsy we have a substantial number of users every day, hour and minute. obviously, we do not get anywhere near the traffic directed to the giants, like Google, MSN and Yahoo. On the other hand, your visibility in the directories may be much greater than in, say, Google. Unless you rank very high in the search results for your targeted keywords - what good will do you all the millions of searches that Google gets? You will not see even one referral from them.

If you want to have some ideas about the traffic enjoyed by directories, simply check the Alexa ranking they currently have. You will see that some are clearly within the top 10,000 sites of the net. Although Alexa is far from a foolproof measurement - it is certainly an indication.

Do we submit to directory simply to get indexed by the major search engines? Clearly, if one doesn't expect to get visitors directly from the directory, they do expect to get them from search engines, right? So how does listing in directory help with search engines? It does so in many ways:1. It provides a link, usually with a decent PR, that counts towards the total links of that site.2. It makes it harder for Pay For Inclusion search engines to ignore the site.3. It makes it easy for a site to come to the surface of search results, thanks to the listing in the DIRECTORY!

OK - so 1 is self explanatory, but 2 may not be. Many Search Engines have a Pay For Inclusion policy, where they will include your site and spider it if you pay them (heavily) for the privilege. But this is not the ONLY way to get included. They also spider sites which did not pay, simply to keep their index up to date. The more links from directories you have - the more likely you are to get spidered by them too. If your site has 10 pages you will pay at least 250 USD to be included in any ONE of those search engines. If you want to be included in all of them.... well... you wouldn't even think twice about paying a directory....

As to number 3, see for example the following query at Google visit salon. Now, the site thehairstyler.com is nowhere to be seen in the first 100 results, but anyone visiting the Gimpsy listing VIA Google cannot fail to notice it.

So - is it worth paying for it? I really don't know, as I am not clear what are your alternatives, how pressed for time are you, how much did you invest in your site and how much are you planning to get from it - if it is a commercial one. Thus, I find it hard to accept Jill's verdict

In my opinion, most directories are not worth paying for, unless they're very specific to your industry.

I think that one has to take many more factors into account, and not just if the directory is very specific to your industry

Question for you...is there any way for you to know how many of those tons of people you have searching through your directory are "real" searchers, and how many are simply searching for the best category to add their site to?

That was a fast reply!! I see you are keeping a close eye on your Forum! Much impressed!

Regarding your question, the answer is simple. We know full well...

A. The number of site submissions / day
B. The number of visits / day
C. The number of click-throughs FROM Gimpsy / day

At the moment, we are not disclosing exact figures, but I can say that the ratio between B and A is about 100 to 1. That is, 99% of the visits to Gimpsy were not site submission related.

Moreover, the vast majority of people submitting sites are browsing the directory tree WITHIN the submission pages, which does not count at all towards the search stats. That is, if they bother to look for the right category at all